Gait

Recent articles

Illustration showing two hands plugging cables into different areas of the brain, eg. prefrontal cortex, motor cortex, etc.

Motor difficulties in autism, explained

Most people with autism have motor difficulties, ranging from an atypical gait to problems with handwriting, but researchers still have much to learn about their causes and consequences.

By Lauren Schenkman
13 August 2020 | 7 min read

Unusual gait marks mice with mutations related to autism

Mouse models of two genetic conditions related to autism show abnormalities in their movement patterns.

By Emily Anthes
20 October 2019 | 3 min read
Child walking with sensors on in motion capture test.

Walking in virtual environment may reveal unique autism gait

A two-belt treadmill attached to a specialized display suggests that people with autism have a distinct walking style.

By Maris Fessenden
8 February 2019 | 2 min read

Siblings of children with autism may have trouble with motor tasks

Siblings of children with autism have motor difficulties similar to those in autistic children, but milder.

By Rachel Zamzow
4 November 2018 | 2 min read

Mutations in autism gene may trigger milder effects than does its loss

People with mutations in SHANK3 have milder features than do those missing a chunk of DNA that includes the gene.

By Bahar Gholipour
20 June 2018 | 4 min read
parents hiking with toddler

Walking doesn’t deliver language gains for children with autism

Children with autism do not show the burst of vocabulary growth that usually accompanies learning to walk.

By Emily Anthes
4 December 2017 | 4 min read
mouse running up wheel

Experimental Huntington’s drug improves gait in Rett mice

A candidate drug in clinical trials for Huntington's disease reverses gait problems in a mouse model of Rett syndrome.

By Hannah Furfaro
14 November 2017 | 3 min read
Movement maps of children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome

Drug improves gait in children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome

A new measure of motor skills suggests that insulin-like growth factor 1 improves movement in people with Phelan-McDermid syndrome.

By Hannah Furfaro
12 November 2017 | 2 min read

Autism in motion

Children with autism are often clumsy, physically awkward or uncoordinated. This understudied and nearly ubiquitous feature has researchers contemplating a new idea: Could motor problems be one source of autism’s social difficulties?

By Nicholette Zeliadt
31 May 2017 | 17 min read
Spectrum from The Transmitter.

Repurposed drugs may treat Angelman syndrome

An acne drug, a dietary supplement and a failed sleeping aid each show promise for Angelman syndrome, according to unpublished results presented Tuesday at a meeting.

By Jessica Wright
19 March 2015 | 5 min read

Explore more from The Transmitter

Research image of lesion network mapping.

‘Overdue’ debate unfurls over neuroimaging method

After a January paper questioned the validity of an approach called lesion network mapping, its users are pressure testing their results.

By Angie Voyles Askham
17 April 2026 | 8 min read
Research image of zebrafish brain activity.

Nearly 400 compounds affect behaviors tied to autism-linked genes in zebrafish

Estropipate, paclitaxel and levocarnitine altered behaviors tied to SCN2A and DYRK1A variants specifically, a new open-source platform revealed.

By Charles Q. Choi
16 April 2026 | 4 min read
NINDS building.

What neuroscientists want from a new NINDS director

The search is underway for the next director of the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, who will face a range of challenges, neuroscientists say, but will also have an “immense opportunity to do good things.”

By Helena Kudiabor
15 April 2026 | 4 min read